1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to data processing devices and in particular to user applications on data processing devices. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to improve user interface and editing features within user applications on data processing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many user applications on electronic devices, such as data processing devices and more advanced mobile communication devices (e.g., smart phones) allow some level of user interfacing with and manipulation of visible content displayed during use of the application. In word processing applications, for example, a user is able to perform one of several functions, including, for example: (a) generating a “document” utilizing some sort of input device (or uploading/downloading the document from another device or storage); and (b) editing content within the document, which may include: (i) inserting content within the documents; and/or (ii) moving/copying portions of the content from one location to another within the document, utilizing a cut and paste functionality, for example, or a copy and paste functionality; in addition to many other functions.
Use of a graphical user interface (GUI) and input devices, such as a mouse and keyboard, a touchpad, or touch screen, to perform editing functions within an existing document enables the user to view the content at some point while the user performs the editing function. Often times, the user desires to perform a specific editing function that enables the user to move/copy content within a document from a first/original location to another/ending location. To achieve this movement/copy of content, application and/or operating system (OS) developers have provided the cut and paste functionality and the copy and paste functionality. Using the cut/copy and paste functionality(s) in a text-based document for example, a user is able to select certain text to be moved, copy/delete that text from its current original location, and then paste the text in the ending location by scrolling up/down through the document to the ending location. This cut and paste (or copy and paste) functionality also allows a user to move content across multiple documents. With a multiple document copy/paste operation, similar to the single document cut and paste operation, the user must first select and cut/copy the desire content, open the next document or switch to the screen on which the next document is displayed, and then paste the contents in the selected location within the second document.
One more recent enhancement made to cut and paste functionality involves the inclusion of a cut and paste clipboard that stores one or more content as the content is cut/copied. This cut-and-paste clipboard enables multiple contents to be stored on the clipboard. The individual contents may then be later pasted at “scrolled-to” locations within the document. While this enhancement provides some added benefits, there are significant limitations in the existing editing functions available to those persons who edit a large number of documents and/or documents with lots of pages of content. One such limitation is that the editor is faced with the problem of having to recall or find a previous location in the document to which the content on the clipboard is to be pasted. This problem increases exponentially as more content is copied to the cut-and-paste clipboard memory.